03-05-2003, 04:19 PM
Bad form is it? Folks who wish to America bash may well be repaid in kind. But America bashing is not bad form? Nice double standard.
But let's look at antisemitism for a moment, shall we, that tried and true cultural norm of European culture since about the time of . . . Constantine? Charlemagne? A variety of Medeival Popes? King Ferdinand of Spain? Pick when you want it to start, it is older than most of the present nation states of Europe, and certainly older than U.S. and Canada.
How was it that Europe resolved their complex relationship with the Jewish members of its population? While some engaged in pogroms, and in one case, genocide, they all exported quite a few of them to Isreal to make them the Arab's problem. Is it any surprise that so many Jews post WW II left Europe? It was no secret to them that they were unwelcome. (In a related area, see the issues of Russian Jewry between US and USSR for about thirty years of the Cold War.)
That is one way to see how the UN mandate that created Israel was so well supported. It was a passive attempt at ethnic cleansing in action without gas chambers. "Give them their own country so that they wont clutter up ours." This was not a new idea. Turkey and Greece post WW I conducted extensive "population changes" that uprooted hundreds of thousands of people from one place to another to better fit "the lines on the map." The bitterness over that sustains to this day.
Yeah, that' it, how about sending those troublesome Jewish folks to 'where they belong.' Sounds an awful lot like some of the nasty sentiments in my own country back in the 1960's. "Send the blacks back to Africa if they don't like it here." So let's not have our dear European pots call the American kettle black, shall we?
Any European, or American, who is anti-Israel borders on a profound historical hypocrisy. It is the West, the US, Europe, and assorted allied nations, who built that modern Jewish Homeland via the UN. Rather than repatriate the Jews within their own countries, Europe was glad to see them "go away." Funny that, since in America -- all problems with country club membership aside -- they found a way to fit in, and indeed become powerful and effective members of society.
"Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of XX bashing." Who wants to play?
Full disclosure: I am not Jewish. I have been to Israel. I have lived nine years of my life in Europe.
But let's look at antisemitism for a moment, shall we, that tried and true cultural norm of European culture since about the time of . . . Constantine? Charlemagne? A variety of Medeival Popes? King Ferdinand of Spain? Pick when you want it to start, it is older than most of the present nation states of Europe, and certainly older than U.S. and Canada.
How was it that Europe resolved their complex relationship with the Jewish members of its population? While some engaged in pogroms, and in one case, genocide, they all exported quite a few of them to Isreal to make them the Arab's problem. Is it any surprise that so many Jews post WW II left Europe? It was no secret to them that they were unwelcome. (In a related area, see the issues of Russian Jewry between US and USSR for about thirty years of the Cold War.)
That is one way to see how the UN mandate that created Israel was so well supported. It was a passive attempt at ethnic cleansing in action without gas chambers. "Give them their own country so that they wont clutter up ours." This was not a new idea. Turkey and Greece post WW I conducted extensive "population changes" that uprooted hundreds of thousands of people from one place to another to better fit "the lines on the map." The bitterness over that sustains to this day.
Yeah, that' it, how about sending those troublesome Jewish folks to 'where they belong.' Sounds an awful lot like some of the nasty sentiments in my own country back in the 1960's. "Send the blacks back to Africa if they don't like it here." So let's not have our dear European pots call the American kettle black, shall we?
Any European, or American, who is anti-Israel borders on a profound historical hypocrisy. It is the West, the US, Europe, and assorted allied nations, who built that modern Jewish Homeland via the UN. Rather than repatriate the Jews within their own countries, Europe was glad to see them "go away." Funny that, since in America -- all problems with country club membership aside -- they found a way to fit in, and indeed become powerful and effective members of society.
"Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of XX bashing." Who wants to play?
Full disclosure: I am not Jewish. I have been to Israel. I have lived nine years of my life in Europe.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete